"How did the gap between me and him widen by this much?"
"Between him and us."
Claire corrected Raven's statement.
After the chains erupted from the ground, they immediately knew what was about to happen. For that reason, they distanced themselves before the wyvern came crashing down.
"He's an S–ranker now."
A voice cut in and the group abruptly flicked their heads back.
It was Belle, who had just joined them.
"How is that possible?"
Amelia asked. She was most definitely confused. Just two months ago, she was clearly stronger than him. Especially so, when they had checked each other's status daily.
'Did he lie?'
Amelia quickly shook her head and pushed down such a ridiculous thought.
There was no reason for Brandon to lie about his status with her.
That meant, something must've happened in the two months he was gone.
"Haaa.... even I have no idea."
Belle sighed, lifting her gaze to the towering wyvern, once the terror of the cadets. Now, that same creature was being brutally beaten by a single man.
"It's Brandon. He's always done unexplainable things...."
Amy added her own comment. How could she not, when she was the first person to have ever seen Brandon's prowess up close, back during the virtual simulation?
However, right now, this scene definitely took the cake.
There was no denying Belle's previous statement.
Clearly, he was an S–ranker as of this moment.
Amelia looked around, seeing the looks of shock in the cadets' expressions. She couldn't blame them at all.
She too was baffled.
"Shouldn't we go and help him?"
Rachel, who was previously silent, finally let out a few words.
"No."
Belle shot her down.
"It's unfortunate. But we'd only get in the way...."
Then, her eyes lingered on each and every one of them.
"Take this time to recover. You all look exhausted. If Brandon can't finish off the wyvern alone, you'll need your strength to back him up."
"Then what are you gonna do, Belle?"
Amelia, who had just sat down on the snowy ground, asked as her gaze fixed on the wyvern who was fighting for control, trying to break free from the chain's grasps.
"Be a good sister."
Swoosh—!
In an instant, Belle's body shimmered with radiant light, her form dissolving into a brilliant flash before vanishing completely.
She had advised them not to interfere.
And yet she didn't heed her own advice at all.
***
While their attacks would indeed interfere with whatever Brandon was doing, he needed a bit of help.
Particularly, a wind–attributed mage he could trust.
Who else could he ask but his own sister, Belle?
For that reason, his gaze lingered on her and their eyes met. Around her, he could see Amelia and the rest of his friends.
Brandon nudged with his chin, ushering for Belle to go to him.
Immediately, like the speed of a train, Brandon descended down due to the wind pressure. However, grabbing a pathway, he vanished once more, implanting his feet on the wyvern's lower back.
BOOOOOM——!
The wyvern reeled, but before it could react, Brandon vanished once more, grabbing hold of the curse pathways.
BOOOOOM——! BOOOOOM——!
Blow after blow, he moved like a shadow, striking from all angles as the mist concealed his movements.
Each punch echoed like an explosion, his figure barely visible as he unleashed a relentless barrage of attacks, hammering the wyvern's defenses from every side.
Brandon's knuckles burned, the sensation almost lost to him amidst the chaos as he drove punch after punch into the wyvern's body.
BOOOOOM——!
Each blow landed with a thunderous boom echoing through the battlefield as cracks continued to spread across the beast's armored scales. The wyvern writhed in agony beneath the relentless assault.
He moved like a phantom in the mist, his form barely visible as he darted from one position to the next.
The cursed pathways allowed him to traverse the battlefield with inhuman speed, vanishing and reappearing atop different parts of the wyvern's massive frame. His fists pummeling the beast down.
Every breath felt like fire in his lungs. His arms were screaming in protest, his muscles straining with each attack, but gritting his teeth, Brandon pushed through the pain.
Cracks spread across the wyvern's figure, some already shattering, exposing its vulnerability.
Blood trickled down his bruised knuckles, but Brandon merely grinned, unbothered despite the pain.
As the battle raged on, Belle's wind magic faltered as the crushing pressure lifted.
However, he didn't have the luxury to check on her condition.
He had to finish this before the wyvern regained its footing.
The wyvern was battered and bruised, its skin exposed across the shattering scales.
SHIIING——!
With no hesitation, Brandon was already moving. His figure blurred as he hacked away at the wyvern, his sword ablaze with amethyst flames.
Brandon moved with blinding speed, the amethyst flames blazing across its blade as he carved through the wyvern's exposed body.
His figure blurred, shifting through the mist, leaving afterimages in his wake as he raced up the creature's form. The sound of his sword slicing through scale and flesh echoed through the battlefield.
His mind was calm as he darted from one position to another, his body flowing with the pathways only he could see.
With each strike, the wyvern's body trembled. Its skin, once protected by the thick armor of scales, now lay exposed as blood spattered in the air.
He felt the heat of the amethyst flames intensify as they danced along the blade, searing through the wyvern's body with each slash.
.....And he felt the heat burning him internally. Each movement was getting harder to breathe as he felt his lungs suffocating.
But Brandon was relentless, disregarding his own health—his own state.
He felt his lips pull up and the sounds of chuckles escaping.
"Ah....."
He had never let loose like this before.
To revel in his own power.
It felt addicting.
Screams from below echoed, barely reaching his ears. What the hell are they trying to tell him?
Lost in the chaos, Brandon's hold over the blade loosened. The sword fell from a towering height and Brandon gasped in shock.
"Shit!"
He exclaimed, but his body gave out. Unable to find strength in his legs any further, his body launched upward as soon as he grabbed hold of the pathways.
"Ah."
He had run out of mana from the last pathway. The mist gradually faded, and Brandon's figure descended down rapidly.
A normal person might've panicked at that moment. However, Brandon was indifferent towards it.
He felt at peace.
His arms outstretched, flailing, as blood trickled all over. He would most probably come to regret it soon once the adrenaline wears off.
Shortly after, Brandon closed his eyes, allowing his body to free–fall, the cold air brushing against his bare skin.
He was satisfied.